my mother used to give gifts to manipulate me into careers.
so when i was very small i got a doctor kit which i "used" to dissect my sisters' dolls.
i got lots of books which i loved but which gave no clue as to what she wanted.
this finally stopped some years ago when she decided that i wasn't going to finish my phd so she bought network administration and A+ classes for me. i drove through the winter to the classes which were in new york city - manhattan. 16 weeks, every weekend, while i also worked on my dissertation.
i finished the class and about 10 months later defended my dissertation.